The right type of education is more important

In the past 50 years, college graduation rates in developed countries have increased nearly 200%

The countries with the most highly educated citizens are also some of the wealthiest in the world. The United States, Japan and Canada also have among the largest GDPs.

Norway and Australia, have the second and sixth-highest GDPs per capita, respectively. All these countries aggressively invest in education.

The countries that invest the most in education have the most-educated people.

All of the best-educated countries, except for the UK, fall within the top 15 OECD countries for greatest spending on tertiary — that is, college or college-equivalent — spending as a percentage of GDP. The U.S. spends the second most and Canada spends the fourth most.

The countries included here have had educated populations for a long time. The U.S., Canada and Japan have had tertiary educational attainment above 30% since at least 1997.

The 10 most educated countries in the world are :

10. Finland

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%

> GDP per capita: $36,585 (14th highest)

Finland is also one of only two countries, the other being Korea, in which the fields of social sciences, business and law are not the most popular among students. In Finland, new entrants are most likely to study engineering, manufacturing and construction.

9. Australia

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%

> GDP per capita: $40,719 (6th highest)

8. United Kingdom

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%

> GDP per capita: $35,504 (16th highest)

7. Norway

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 37%

> GDP per capita: $56,617 (2nd highest)

The country is one of the wealthiest in the world. GDP per capita is $56,617, second only to Luxembourg in the OECD.

6. South Korea

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 39%

> GDP per capita: $29,101 (13th lowest)

Korea is also one of only two countries — the other being Finland — in which the most popular fields of study are not social sciences, business and law. In Korea, new students choose to study education, humanities and arts at the greatest rates.

5. New Zealand

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 40%

> GDP per capita: $29,871 (14th lowest)

40% of the population engages in tertiary education, the fifth-highest rate in the world.

4. United States

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 41%

> GDP per capita: $46,588 (4th highest)

Among OECD countries, the largest share of adults with a tertiary education live in the United States — 25.8%.

3. Japan

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 44%

> GDP per capita: $33,751 (17th lowest)

In Japan, 44% of the adult population has some form of tertiary education. The U.S. by comparison has a rate of 41%.

2. Israel

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 45%

> GDP per capita: $28,596 (12th lowest)

In 2006, 46% of adults ages 25 to 64 had a tertiary education. In 2007 this number fell to 44%. Only 78% of funds spent on educational institutions in Israel are public funds.

1. Canada

> Pct. population with postsecondary education: 50%

> GDP per capita: $39,070 (10th highest)

In Canada, 50% of the adult population has completed tertiary education, easily the highest rate in the OECD.

My comments :

First of all, I think it is obvious that the higher the level of education, generally the higher the level of income of the population. But this need not be the case always.

In India and Pakistan, people with PhDs used to ride bicycles and buses to work. Now most people with PhDs in India ride cars because their economy is more market oriented and open to competition. Hence educated people tend to be better appreciated by the market economy.

In Pakistan, qualified and experienced doctors may still take the bus to work – out of need, not by their own choice.

In Egypt, highly qualified engineers have to work at two or three jobs to make ends meet. This is because their societies (Pakistan and Egypt) are not entirely market based and they are also still ‘non technical’ societies. They do not use science and technology to a great extent in their economies (compared to say the developed countries).

At the end of the day, bazaar type trading, import export business, plantation agriculture can only provide so much opportunities and upward mobility. To really move a society forward you need a science and technology based economy. Manufacturing, transport and logistical services higher value added soft services (management, accounting, law, marketing, banking) can generate more opportunity, more income and more wealth.

Unfortunately in our country while we are also producing an increasing number of university graduates, we are not helping everyone equally.

It is a fact that a Chinese, Malay and Indian graduate from the same university go on to achieve different outcomes in life. The Malay graduate will likely end up working for the Government where he will work in a very protected environemnt for as long as he wants (until retirement).

If he is a little more adventurous or has slightly better English skills, he will get a job at a GLC where he will still work in a protected environment – with little exposure to the real market.

Needless to say, the Chinese graduate will jump into the open market. He will compete to get a job in the open market. Or he will go overseas and compete in the “dog eat dog” environment of a Singapore, a Hong Kong, a London or any such place.

My view is a university education alone is not sufficient to make everyone compete at the same level. Otherwise why is there still such a big difference in the ability of our graduates to compete?

I think mindset and attitude as well as cultural and religious factors are just as important. When we send our young people to university we put knowledge inside their heads.

I think it is more important (especially for Muslim people throughout the world) to also REMOVE old fashioned, obsolete, non workable, illogical ideas from inside their heads which may prevent them from competing freely with others.

It is no point teaching someone engineering skills that can increase his output when the person believes strongly in ‘rezeki secupak takkan jadi segantang’ type of ideas. He will never invent that 100 miles per gallon automobile in such an environment. He will have to migrate to Australia or some other kafir country before his mind will be free enough to achieve great things.

Which is why many great modern Muslim scientists and engineers have achieved their greatness in the West – eg Pakistani born Prof Abdus Salam working in Switzerland and winning the Nobel Prize. Or the Iranian born Anousheh Ansari (picture) being the first self sponsored female space traveller in the US. Many Muslims do extremely well in so called ‘kafir’ countries where they are not suffocated by religion.

It is also extremely foolhardy to send our students to study anything in almost all the Islamic countries – especially religious studies. We are only condemning them and ourselves to an uncompetitive and unproductive future. In the end instead of becoming useful contributors to society they will become dependents or parasites living off other peoples efforts.

Education is very important. However the right type of education is more important. Removing ancient and unworkable beliefs is also equally important. If we do not get rid of illogical and unworkable beliefs from our collective psyche, all the effort on new education may go to waste.

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